No more hugs
by consuelas revenge
Summary: Wally is through with Kuki's hugs. Two parts, 3x4.
1. Fine

I was going to make this a oneshot, but I decided to divide it into two or three parts instead.

I don't own Kids Next Door.

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Wally Beetles, aka Numbuh 4 of the Kids Next Door, sat on the floor of the treehouse, frowning in concentration. The blonde 11-year-old boy was holding a handful of cards, his eyes occasionally flitting between the cards in his hands and the chubby boy across from him.

"Come on already!"

Hoagie Gilligan, also known as Numbuh 2, slapped his face and groaned. What kind of kid takes _over_ 5 minutes to ask for a card in Go Fish?

Numbuh 4 grinned triumphantly, and after what seemed like forever, took his turn. "Do yah have any… sixes?"

Hoagie made an annoyed face and fell backwards to lie on his back, closing his goggle-covered eyes. Numbuh 4 had asked him for sixes about 5 times already. No offense, but Wally wasn't the brightest child on the Earth. "On second thought Numbah 4, I don't think I'm in the mood to play go fish." There was only so much one pilot could take.

Wally, surprised, stood up and threw down his cards. "What the crud? You were the one who asked me ta play!" The orange-clad Aussie stalked off, leaving Numbuh 2 shaking his head on the floor. "Whatevah." He muttered. "He just quit 'cause he didn't wanna give up any of 'is sixes." Flopping down on the couch, Numbah 4 glanced up at the tv to see what was on. Great. _Rainbow Monkeys_. The only kid in the tree house who watched this crud was-

As if on cue, a buttery Japanese girl skipped into the room, holding a bowl of popcorn over head. Everytime she bounced up about half the popcorn fell out onto the floor; Wally wondered if she even noticed. Kuki Sanban- Numbah 3- smiled brightly as she took a seat on the couch.

"Hi Wally! Come to watch Rainbow Monkies with me? It's a special episode today- Sharetime Hugfest!"

"…"

Silence, then a slight gagging noise was the only response she got. Shrugging, Kuki leaned back into the couch and began to watch. Unfortunately for him, Wally was feeling especially lazy today and didn't feel like moving, which left him with two decisions: Watch Rainbow Monkeys with Numbuh 3 and die of girliness, or change the channel.

"Hey, Numbuh 3."

Kuki turned her head and smiled warmly at him. "Yes?"

"Can we change the channel? This is cruddy girly junk." Numbah 4 said nonchalantly. The girl's smile instantly faded.

"Of course we can't do that Numbah 4! The hugfest only comes once a year!"

"…pleeeease?"

"No!"

"Ugh, fine," Wally grumbled, getting up to leave. He probably would've put up more of a fight if he wasn't feeling so unusually tired. He loved tv, but Rainbow Monkies were the one thing Numbah 4 couldn't stand the most. Actually, that wasn't true. But they were still pretty bad.

He was sliding moodily off the couch when suddenly Numbuh 3 lunged at him and tackled him to the floor, her arms hugging him tightly around his middle.

"Whot the… oomphagaf!" And suddenly he felt his air supply leave him. It didn't take long for the surprise to wear off and the young Aussie brashly pushed her away, rejecting her act of affection. "Get offa mey! Whot in the name o' crud d'ya think yeh doin'?" He cringed and pretended to wipe the 'girl germs' off his person.

Kuki gave him a sad look and spoke as if it was obvious. "I was giving you a rainbow monkey goodbye hug, silly!"

"Oi thought oi told yeh ta leave mey outta yo' stupid girly games!"

Numbuh 3 gave him a pleading look. "I _know_, but hugfest is today! I _have_ to hug you!" She folded her arms. "It's rainbow monkey procedure."

"Oi don't care if it's rainbow dorky procedure! Quit givin' me rainbow monkey g'bye hugs!" Wally turned on his heel and began to stomp out of the room in him usual aggressive manner, leaving the small Japanese girl in the tv room with a quivering lip.

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As he headed to his room, Wally began to lose the stomp and walk with his hands shoved in his pockets. He wondered what Numbuh 3 was thinking about now, silently praying that she didn't notice how red his ears had gotten when she tackled him.

_Stupid girly…_

Yes. Stupid girly. The same phrase he had used over and over again to convince himself that Numbuh 3 was just another girl. A pretty girl.

_HEY!_

This was stupid. It was outrageous! It was taking over his mind! Ever since he had met the small asian girl, he had felt this weird attraction to her that wouldn't go away. And the short boy abosultely couldn't _stand _it. It didn't make any sense! Boys weren't supposed to like girls at this age! Especially not crazy rainbow monkey obsessed ones!

Ugh, why him? Why did he like her? What was it about her that made her different from the others? They were complete and total opposites, not to mention they disagreed and argued over like, everything. Nonetheless, he still became bright red when they got too close, or whenever someone teased him about liking her, or when he was thinking about her like he was thinking about her now…

Numbuh 4 could feel the heat radiating off of his cheeks.

_Cruddy hugs!_

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"We're going out to get candy! What does everybody want!"

"Caramel critters!"

"Sweet n' sour pops!"

"Skittles!" Numbuh 3 was last to shout out her order, leaving Numbuhs 2 and 4 to their trek to the candy shop. Numbuh two rolled up his list and put it in his red backpack.

"Kay, we'll be back in like in hour guys." Wally pushed the down button on the elevator. Finally, candy time! The double doors opened and the boys were about to step in, when-

"Wait!" Numbuhs 1 and 5 watched Numbuh 3 get up from her seat on the couch, leaving her Rainbow Monkey marathon to approach Hoagie and Wally. She flashed them a broad smile and opened her arms. "You guys can't leave without your hugs!"

"Oh yeah… it's hugfest… something." Numbuh 2 gave a slight grin as Numbuh 3 threw her tiny oversleeved arms around him, unknowingly receiving a glare from a short blonde boy to his left. But when Kuki released her grip from Hoagie and spread out her welcoming arms for Wally, he crossed his arms and frowned at her.

"No way, Numbuh 3. Oi've had enough hugs feh one day." Kuki's smile instantly faltered, and the grin was replaced with the largest puppy dog eyes Wally had ever seen.

"But Numbuh 4-"

"No more hugs! Just leave me alone, will yeh?" With that, he pulled an anxious looking Numbuh 2 into the elevator and pushed the door close button. Numbuh Two gave him a look, but Wally avoided the pilot's frown. '_It's fo' moi own good,_' he thought. If he avoided Kuki's hugs, that meant no more butterflies. No more butterfies was good, right?

…right?

He didn't know that he should appreciate them while they were still around.


	2. Bad

Warning, this story stops being lighthearted here.

Blah blah blah, I don't own KND.

* * *

Hoagie and Wally were still on their way to the candy store when they had gotten the call from Numbuh One. Apparently, the delightful children from down the lane were at it again; they had stolen some sort of important console from an operative on his way to the Moonbase.

"We're going to have to infiltrate their mansion," Numbuh One said. "You two need to meet us there ASAP."

"Yeah, yeah, we got it," Numbuh Four rolled his eyes not at the bossy bald boy, but at Numbuh 3, who was waving at him wildly from the background. The blonde Aussie shut off his watch and motioned to Numbuh 2.

"Camon, Numbuh 2, let's get this ova' with."

Hoagie gave him a shocked look. "But… but… _candy_!"

Numbuh 4 grabbed Numbuh 2's arm and began to pull him towards the direction of the delightful mansion. "Oh, stuff it, yeh cruddy baby!"

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The group met and stealthily hopped over the gate surrounding the huge mansion. By now the sun had set, and the stars were beginning to come out.

The five operatives peeked into the first window they met, and gasped.

There was the moonbase console, full of all sorts of important Kids Next Door secrets, and it was currently sitting innocently on a table in the middle of the very room they were peeking into.

"Man, somethin' ain't right." whispered Numbuh 5. The console was in the middle of a huge, dark ballroom, and the overly sized room contained nothing but the table and the console. "It's way too easy."

"Then we just have to get in and get out." Numbuh One ordered. "Let's move, team."

The 5 kids scrambled through the window and approached the table cautiously, all the while looking around for the creepy delightful children. "This place is scarrry…" commented Numbuh 3, and her teammates silently complied.

They gathered around the table, and Numbuh One placed his hands slowly on the console, his eyes darting this way and that. When was the alarm going to sound off for touching the delightfuls' stolen prize?

He picked it up, and everyone smiled. "Well, I guess that's that! You know guys, I almost thought this was some sort of-"

_BOOM!_

The table Sector V had once been smiling around blew up, sending the five children flying in five unconscious directions.

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"_Ooh_…" Numbuh 4 rubbed his head, and got on his hands and knees. "Whot the crud…" He froze as he looked up to see 5 pairs of eerily blue eyes staring him down. Glancing around frantically, he couldn't spot his friends through the clearing smoke.

"Hello, Wallace. Since you are the first to awaken, you get to be the lucky operative whom we test our new toy on." They laughed in their creepy monotone chorus as Wally glanced over the particularly _menacing_ laser cannon that the delightful children from down the lane were in control of.

"Say Goodbye, Wallabee Beetles."

He was frozen. He couldn't even move. Still on his knees, Numbuh 4 tucked his head down and crossed his arms in front of his face, bracing himself for the horrible impact that clearly awaited him. Wally could feel tears forming as he squeezed his eyes shut; this was it, he was going to die, it wasn't fair, he was going to-

"No! Don't you hurt Numbuh Four!" The blonde's eyes then popped open as Numbuh 3, whom he'd thought was still unconscious, jumped a few feet before him, spreading her arms and legs almost as if to hug her impending doom. Her fear stricken face wasn't visible to the boy she was protecting, but he knew it was there.

"_You stupid girl!_" The blonde yelled, stumbling clumsily to his feet. "GET OUT OF THE W-"

It was as if time was in slow motion. Numbuh Four finally stood up, eyes wide. He looked down at himself and saw that his whole front had been spattered with tiny red dots. Slowly lifting his head, he had an urge to vomit… there was a _hole_ in his best friend. _No, no, no…_

He tried to call her name, because Kuki hadn't fallen yet. She was just _standing_ there. She wasn't screaming or anything. "Numbuh 3?" He hadn't meant for it to come out in a mere whisper. "A-ah yeh…?"

He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence, because Kuki began to stumble. The poor girl couldn't think, she started to lose her footing, she started to fall backwards…

She fell right back into Wally's arms, who caught her with an "oomph!". He was overwhelmed by her weight, and the panicked children were pulled down to the floor together.

Numbuh 4 looked down at Numbuh 3 in his lap and suddenly felt very small. Her usually very thin eyes were perfect circles; he had never seen them so big. It was as if she was surprised that she had a bloody hole in her middle that was steadily forming a puddle, engulfing her and her companion. It was as if she was surprised that she was hit at all, even though she was the one that had initiated his rescue. What had she expected? Some sort of miracle? Realization dawned upon him and he could see that it had dawned upon her too; Kuki Sanban was going to die.

The boy looked around for the delightful children; they were long gone, and his friends were still unconscious on the floor. Wally watched as her eyes filled with fresh tears, and that ache in his heart began to make his eyes glisten too. He fought hard to keep then in. He was the fighter; he wouldn't cry in front of her. It would only worsen a bad situation. But then, he never thought he would _be_ in this situation. What should he say to her? She didn't have much time, he knew, as much as he wanted to deny it. But what do you say to your dying best friend? Should he tell her he was sorry for everything? Should he tell her his deepest, most darkest secret? Should he-

His thoughts were interrupted when Kuki grabbed his hand and put on the saddest look he had ever seen. The small Aussie felt a tear slip out, and he kept fighting to keep up the barrier. He decided to say to her what he had seen in the movies. What one was supposed to say to their hurt friend.

"You'll be okay, Kuki…" Numbuh 4's voice cracked and faltered, and he could feel his bottom lip pressing up against his top, quivering slightly.

Kuki looked him straight in the eyes, lifted up one of the bloody sleeves, and showed it to him, as if she was confessing her fate. She blinked quickly, clearing the tears, so she could see his face. "I don't want to die." She whispered.

Wally's eyes darted back and forth to each of her deep black ones. "I don't want you to die either…" His voice was almost gone now, and he bit his bottom lip. _No_, he was blowing it, he needed to tell her before she was gone, he could already see her eyes clouding up-

"Numbuh…" Kuki blinked weakly and began to stare at nothing. He stared at her expectantly. "Numbuh 4…? Can I have a goodbye hug now…?"

Part of him wanted to refuse. No way, nuh uh, he didn't want to say goodbye. This was the real deal goodbye here… after this, no more hugs at all. No more Kuki. No more…

Wally scooped up the girl in his arms and hugged her, hugged her for dear life. He felt the dam he had worked so hard to build up his entire life blow up into a million, billion pieces, and his small frame shook in harsh, wrenching sobs. He cried wildly as he felt her arms go limp around him; by now the red puddle fully surrounded them by at least a foot.

If anybody was to look at the tough, brash Numbuh Four at that very minute, they wouldn't believe it. All the boy's bottled up emotions came pouring out as he cried for his lost friend. Hate, love, anger, sadness, everything he had been trying to hide from the judgmental eyes of the world. Whatever, he had given up trying to hide.This wasn't supposed to happen. Kids weren't supposed to die at 10. It wasn't done. Especially not the ones he knew. Especially not his rainbow- monkey crazed crush.

Wally sniffed as his sobs began to slow. If he had known, he would at least have given her one of those stupid little goodbye hugs…

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-End 


End file.
